February 13, 2012 Military Aviation News

The budget President Obama delivers to Congress this week will spend about 8 billion dollars less on the Defense Department. That's going to directly affect two Michigan Air National Guard Bases. Battle Creek and Selfridge Air National Guard Base officials learned earlier this month that the president’s proposed defense cuts would effect them. Selfridge would lose specialized fighter aircraft and Battle Creek will not become the home of some cargo planes.

The Pentagon’s increasing demand for unmanned aircraft bodes well for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base as President Barack Obama prepares to make public his funding plans for the smaller, more agile military he envisions for the future. These are white-knuckle days for any military installation, as Obama prepares to authorize a new round of evaluating which U.S. bases can be closed and which missions might be moved for consolidation into other bases.

The MOU marks another step in our commitment to support BLACK HAWK aircraft operated by the Mexican military and Federal Police," said Steve Estill, Sikorsky Vice President for Mexico. "This agreement will establish a working relationship with ASESA in preparation for expected growth in Mexico, which could include helicopter assembly, maintenance, repair and overhaul work.

In a country where defence policy has traditionally not been a key aspect of overall foreign policy, seeing a former powerful Foreign Minister assume the Ministry of Defence is certain to raise some eyebrows. And so it happened when, in August 2011, President Dilma Rousseff chose Celso Amorim, the architect of Brazil's foreign policy under the Lula administration, to replace Nelson Jobim after the latter had openly questioned the capacity of several of his fellow cabinet members.

Turkey is planning to launch its unmanned planes by the summer in the hopes of using them against the outlawed Kurdsitan Workers Party (PKK). The plane’s A version is ready, but a B version is still pending.